Age timeline

Centennial Olympic Park bombing at Summer Olympics in Atlanta kills 1 and injures 111

Gay college student Matthew Shepard was brutally murdered near the University of Wyoming. He becomes a symbol of gay-bashing victims and sparking public reflection on homophobia in the U.S

Former Arkansas state employee Paula Jones accuses President Clinton of sexual harassment

Two teenage students murder 13 other students and teachers at Columbine High School. It is the deadliest mass murder at a high school in U.S. history, and sparks debates on gun control and bullying.

The Arleigh Burke-class destroyer, the USS Cole (DDG-76) is bombed in Yemeni waters, killing seventeen U.S. Navy sailors.

George Walker Bush inaugurated as the 43rd President of the United States.

10 people are killed and 3 are injured in the Beltway sniper attacks around the Washington D.C. area.

Space Shuttle Columbia disintegrates upon re-entry to the Earth's atmosphere, killing all 7 astronauts and resulting in a 29-month suspension of the space shuttle program

Former U.S. President Ronald Wilson Reagan dies from complications resulting from Alzheimer's Disease. He lies in state at the U.S. Capitol building before being interred

George W. Bush is inaugurated to his second-term